Educator Astronaut Barbara Morgan of Montana served as the alternate to the first Teacher in Space. Photo credit: NASA.

Educator Barbara Morgan is probably best-known for being named as Christa McAuliffe’s alternate for the Teacher in Space Program in 1985. Following Christa’s untimely death in the space shuttle Challenger explosion, Barbara continued her training as an astronaut. She became a mission specialist, becoming a full-time astronaut in 1998, and flew into space in 2007, completing an assignment aboard the International Space Station.

Barbara was born in Fresno, California, on Nov. 28, 1951. After her graduation from Herbert Hoover High School in 1969, she enrolled at Sanford University. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in Human Biology there in 1973. She earned her teaching credential in 1974 from Notre Dame de Namur University in Belmont, California.

Once she completed her education, Barbara began her career in education as a remedial reading and math teacher at Arlee Elementary School located on the Flathead Indian Reservation in Arlee, Montana. From 1978 to 1979, Barbara taught science and English to third graders at the Colegio americano de Quito located in Quito, Ecuador. She has also been a teacher of second, third, and fourth graders at McCall-Donnelly Elementary School in McCall, Idaho. Her career there spanned from 1979 to 1998.

After working extensively with NASA, Barbara accepted a teaching position at Boise State University in 2008. Later that year, she took a full-time position as a Distinguished Educator in Residence. There she represented the university in policy development, advocacy and fund-raising in science, technology, engineering and math.

On July 4, 2008, Barbara was honored with the “Friend of Education” award from the National Education Association. The following month, an elementary school named for the Chalkboard Champion was inaugurated in McCall, Idaho. The same year, she garnered the Women in Space Science Award from the Adler Planetarium.